We bided our time -- by which we mean we sat on off-the-record confirmations that we couldn't reference for fear of having the béchamel sauce beaten out of us -- until Willmann confirmed the news Tuesday morning.

In the opinion of this restaurant critic, who was wowed by Willmann's work at Erato on Main in Edwardsville, Illinois, as well as at Farmhaus -- 2010's nothing-else-was-even-close Best New Restaurant -- the honor is well deserved. Congrats to Willmann and the entire Farmhaus crew.